The VW ID Buzz concept is built on the company's battery-electric MEB architecture, giving it very different proportions to early new-Microbus concepts powered by gasoline engines.

In a package that's a bit more than 16 feet long, and about 6-and-a-half feet wide and tall, the ID Buzz has up to eight seats and the interior volume of a larger minivan like a Honda Odyssey or Chrysler Pacifica.

Its proportions are in line with those of the Volkswagen ID concept for a compact hatchback electric car that was shown at last fall's Paris Motor Show.

The front and rear overhangs are very short, with the windshield pushed far forward and the bulk of the interior volume available for passenger and cargo use.

The designers moved the heating and air-conditioning equipment from the usual site behind the dash into what would have been an engine compartment up front.

That gives a much lower dash that's further forward than in any car with a front engine, with a single large central touchscreen for virtually all controls and any operating data not provided to the driver in a head-up display.

Large 22-inch wheels disguise the visual height of the ID Buzz, which is compounded by having a flat lithium-ion battery pack sitting under the floorboards.

A character line circles the shape, and the window openings are tall, which along with a glass roof make the cabin exceptionally bright and easy to see out of.

The front "face" of the ID Buzz concept has the characteristic headlights—VW design chief Klaus Bischoff called them "eyes"—and a lit VW badge that form the car's face on a flat panel sans grille opening, just like the original Microbus.

And slim horizontal taillights work to strengthen an impression of this tall, boxy concept's width. Height is further de-emphasized by a two-tone treatment that uses a darker color for the panels below the beltline.

But this is just the latest of several new Microbus concepts dating back 15 years, from the New Microbus in 2001 through the Bulli in 2011 to last year's Budd-e all-electric concept.

Asked why Volkswagen has come out with another one, Bischoff said that the shape and proportions of previous designs had been compromised by the need to accommodate a combustion engine.

With the battery under the floor and compact front and rear electric motors between the wheels, he said, an all-electric powertrain gave the designers the freedom to rethink the entire packaging and proportion of the one-box shape.

"Now," he said, "we have the proportions right."

Technical specs for the concept were sparse: it's envisioned to have a 110-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack, a 150-kilowatt (200-horsepower) electric motor powering each set of wheels, and a total power output of 275 kw (370 hp).